general

Big Star, “Keep An Eye On The Sky”

Leave a comment

bigstar

“I never travel far without a little Big Star,” Paul Westerberg sang in “Alex Chilton,” a track from The Replacements 1986 gem Pleased to Meet Me. The line speaks for the cult of fervent listeners of Big Star, the 70’s Memphis act that over the course of three LPs defined the term “power-pop” while suggesting the blue-print for what would come to be labeled “alternative rock,” melding Stax soul, folky poignancy and a perfectly skewed lyrical sensibility.

A commercial failure during their time, Rhino Records seeks to give the band their due, with the massive 98 song collection Keep An Eye On The Sky.  Over the span of four discs, the boxed set features alternate mixes of classic tracks, demos, pre-Big Star cuts from Alex Chilton and band founder Chris Bell, and a live set, recorded at Lafayette’s Music Room as the band puzzlingly opened for Archie Bell & The Drells.

Disc One is available for your streaming pleasure at NPR’s Exclusive First Listen, and will be available at brick and mortar record stores (Remember those? Phoenix has some great ones!) on September 15th.  For now enjoy these teaser jams, a rare demo take of Chilton singing the Chris Bell composition “I Got Kinda Lost” and “All I See is You,” a cut from Chris Bell’s pre-Big Star group Icewater.

hip-hop

Q-Tip discusses Kamaal the Abstract album

2 Comments

In anticipation of the verrrrrry long-awaited proper release of Kamaal the Abstract, Jive/Battery Records will be releasing daily webisodes created by Q-Tip in which he discusses each track from the album, due for release on Sept. 15.

You can get the backstory on Kamaal the Abstract – which would have been Q-Tip’s second solo release – at Pitchfork. In short, the album’s release in 2001 was shelved, only to be passed around in bootleg form in the years to come. Pitchfork is correct in calling it “one of the greatest stylistic left turns in pop history,” an album that I’ve not completely warmed to even still. But this proper release gives me good reason to have another go-round with it.

Spine Magazine recently posted a (bonus) track from the album, a song that closer resembles what we heard on last year’s The Renaissance than some of the jazzy leanings on Kamaal the Abstract.

general, remix

Mayer Hawthorne: Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out (Astronote El Camino remix)

Leave a comment

Mayer Hawthorne’s excellent debut LP A Strange Arrangement is officially out today and I strongly recommend you drop your weekly allowance to purchase it. You can grab it directly from Stones Throw and get the limited-edition four-inch single with either the CD or LP.

One of the great jams on the album, Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out, has gotten the remix treatment from Astronote, a nice tweaking that keeps the soulful vibe of the original.

And updating a previous post about Hawthorne’s Oct. 14 show … he appears now to be an opener for Ghostface instead of headlining his own show.

Related:
Mayer Hawthorne: Maybe So, Maybe No (video)
Mayer Hawthorne: Maybe So, Maybe No
Mayer Hawthorne: Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out

arizona, general

Sept. 17: Jim Adkins + Source Victoria for LLS

Leave a comment

As I sit here and sip on a cocktail and think about ways I can change the world around me, some people are, well, actually doing it. Take our friend Karen, who a few months ago told me of her plan to train for an October marathon – that’s 26 miles, people – to raise money as part of the Leukemia and and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. She was fired up, inspired by those close to her who have been affected by these blood cancers, an unfortunate reality that’s touched my own family.

So in her fundraising efforts, Karen has put together what figures to be an incredible night of music and art in charitable environment that should move more of us to reach out. Jim Adkins (frontman for Jimmy Eat World) and Source Victoria are playing not one but two shows on Sept. 17 at Modified. A 5 p.m. show was added after tickets for the 8 p.m. show (obviously) sold out. (I’m pumped to have purchased tickets for both sets.) Remaining tickets ($10) for the early show can be had at TicketWeb or by heading over to Stinkweeds. In addtion, works by local artist Jeremy Yocum will be raffled off to aid the cause.

I can’t say for certain, but I’m willing to guess there will be some collaborating on stage between Adkins and Source Victoria. Just a hunch.

general

New Breakestra: Get it Right

Leave a comment

breakestra

For a modern spin on classic soul-funk, you can’t go wrong with Breakestra, the Los Angeles outfit headed by “Music Man” Miles Tackett.

On Sept. 29, the group will release its sophomore LP Dusk Till Dawn (Strut Records), a tribute to the late DJ Dusk, a mentor/music partner to Tackett, who offers plenty of insight on the album and its creation in a MySpace blog post.

Check the first single, Get it Right, which spills over with pure funk and the type of tight drumming you’d come to expect from a guy who fiends for the perfect break.

NOTE: You might have seen the last post from frequent contributor Jason Woodbury. He now has unfettered access to post whatever and whenever he wants. You’ll find out soon enough – if you haven’t already – that Jason has great taste in music and a thoughtful way of expressing it. I’m looking forward to his posts.

general

Gun Outfit plus more at The Manor

1 Comment

l_b4168317847d48a2a16f70aad2f165f3

Phoenix/Tempe folks, if you’re looking for something awesome to do tonight, I’d recommend doing a little digging as to where exactly Tempe’s The Manor is located. Over the past year or so, the place has established a reputation as one of the best places to catch a wild house show in downtown Tempe, and tonight’s gig, featuring performances from the much hyped Gun Outfit and outstanding locals Chandails and Summer Happened, promises to be another crazy showing.

Lord of The Manor Justin Keefer explains:

“This show starts at 8pm SHARP! Feel free to show up at 10:30 but I can guarantee you will maybe catch one or two songs and that’s it. Cops have been coming around lately, so it needs to be done early. There is only three bands playing, so it wont drag on.”

Feel free to bring some money for the bands and show your support for some real D.I.Y. fun.

hip-hop

Stream new El-P song: How to Serve Man

2 Comments

defjux4

The new Def Jux compilation, Definitive Jux Presents IV, is out today and it features new tracks from El-P, the late Camu Tao, Central Services, Cage, Mr. Lif and more. It’s available to order from Def Jux in five different prices/packages.

To get a taste, El-P is streaming his new track, How to Serve Man, on his MySpace page, where you can also hear Reports of a Possible Kidnapping by the Weathermen (Aesop Rock, El-P and Cage), the first track on the compilation.

[STREAM]: El-P | How to Serve Man (The Meanest Things I’d Never Say)

arizona, general

Birdmonster: Yuma

Leave a comment

bloodmemory

If you’ve never been to Yuma, Ariz., let me offer a bit of advice: Don’t bother. Unless you have to stop to pee on your way to San Diego, there’s not much to see (though the Padres held spring training there and I once stared in amazement from about 30 feet away as Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn took batting practice).

So what would compel anyone to write a song about this scorching-hot southwestern pit stop? I can’t be certain, but Birdmonster’s ode likely has more to do with getting the hell out of Yuma than anything. (For a history of the band’s run-in with this city, see here. Only Lil Wayne has had it worse in Yuma.)

Whatever the case, Yuma is part of Blood Memory, a new eight-song “mini album” coming out on Sept. 22, so the band took to the social media world to spread an mp3 of the new song.

hip-hop

New Gift of Gab: El Gifto Magnifico

Leave a comment

giftofgab

I swear I didn’t plan on back-to-back posts on Quannum artists, but then, I didn’t know Gift of Gab was releasing a new album – Escape 2 Mars – on Oct. 27.

The album – a follow-up to his 2004 solo debut 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up – comes roughly a year after Gab, Headnodic and Lateef released Droppin’ Science Fiction under The Mighty Underdogs moniker. Guests on Escape 2 Mars include Headnodic and Lateef (naturally), Del and Brother Ali (on the same track!).

Though that somewhat tacky space-themed press photo isn’t doing Gab any favors, the first single is fire – a Latin-style beat that Gab negotiates with ease.

hip-hop, video

Lyrics Born: Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart (w/Lateef)

1 Comment

One of the great (and overlooked) hip-hop works from the ’90s was the debut from Latyrx – a record so undeniably cool it only needed to go by the name Latyrx (The Album). The duo – Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truthspeaker – created one of the first albums that really challenged my ideas of what hip-hop was (and what it could be). Coming from the inimitable Solesides/Quannum crew, that shouldn’t have been a surprise.

Sadly, we never got a proper follow-up. But maybe we have the start of something here with the new Lyrics Born single, Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart, which features his old running mate Lateef. There must be some sort of market still yearning for Latyrx because LB’s bandwidth took a hit on a free download of the mp3 (at least as of Tuesday night).

So I don’t have an mp3 to offer – keep checking back with the good peeps at Solesides.com – but there was a video released for the song, which appears on The Lyrics Born Variety Show: Season Pho mixtape (purchase here).

UPDATE: MP3 is available again.

Related:
Lyrics Born: Funky Hit Records